Claeys & Engels SRL / BV, with registered address at 1170 Brussels, Boulevard du Souverain 25 and enterprise number 0473.547.070 and VAT number BE473.547.070 (“Claeys & Engels”, “our”) is a Belgian law firm. The lawyers working with Claeys & Engels are members of a bar that is either part of the Flemish Bar Association or the French or German speaking Bar Association. As such, they are subject to the deontology codes of their respective bar association.
All services provided by Claeys & Engels to its clients (“Client”) shall be subject to these General Terms and Conditions. Except for matters which a lawyer explicitly takes on for his own personal account, all services rendered by lawyers working with Claeys & Engels shall be deemed to be rendered exclusively on behalf of Claeys & Engels.
These General Terms and Conditions are supplemental to the engagement letter, which may be signed by the Client (the “Engagement Letter”). If provisions of these General Terms and Conditions conflict with the signed Engagement Letter, the Engagement Letter shall prevail. Access to and use of the Claeys & Engels Client Portal is, in addition to these General Terms and Conditions, subject to the Claeys & Engels Client Portal Terms of Use.
The application of any general terms and conditions of the Client or in any documents other than the Engagement Letter and these General Terms and Conditions is hereby expressly excluded.
Except different prior written agreement, all services rendered by Claeys & Engels are remunerated at the then applicable hourly rate per lawyer, multiplied by the hours worked.
Invoices are payable within 30 days after the end of the month of the date of the invoice. In case of late payment, the interest and penalties provided by the Act of 2 August 2002 shall be due automatically and without further notice. Any complaints regarding the quality of the services rendered should be notified in writing to Claeys & Engels at the latest within fourteen days after the date of the invoice concerned. Any invoices as to which no complaint is notified within such two-weeks term shall be deemed accepted.
All advice given by Claeys & Engels is solely given to the Client for the purpose for which the Client has requested it and cannot be used or relied upon by any third parties. All advice given by Claeys & Engels is subject to the applicable professional secrecy rules. The Client shall not transmit any advice given by Claeys & Engels to any third party unless with our prior written consent.
The Client accepts that it cannot hold any employees, associates, senior associates, stagiaires, legal staff or sub-contractors for Claeys & Engels liable for negligence or tort. Any liability of Claeys & Engels is limited to the amount of coverage of our professional liability insurance coverage, currently EUR 25,000,000. Details about our insurance programme can be found on our website. For any uninsured claims, our liability is limited to the amounts of the fees charged for the services concerned.
The relationship between Claeys & Engels and the Client shall be governed by Belgian law.
- Any disputes shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Courts of Brussels.